Method of making intersecting rail structures



Dec. 3, 1935. J. L. MARTIN 'ET AL METHOD OF MAKING INTERSECTING RAIL STRUCTURES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 11, 1934 (70272 A Mar/72 is 71'//ar 4/161? Dec. 3, 1935. I J. 1.. MARTIN ETAL 2,023,277

METHOD OF MAKING INTERSECTING RAIL STRUCTURES Filed July 11, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 QW/L 2 1935- J. MARTIN ET AL METHOD OF MAKING INTERSECTING RAIL STRUCTURES- Filed July 11, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 5% A /%W Mg Patented Bee. 3, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF MAKING INTERSECTING RAIL STRUCTURES Application July 11, 1934, Serial No. 734,574

2 Claims.

Objects of the present invention are first, to economically and satisfactorily apply aluminothermic welding to intersecting rail structures, such as railway crossings, frogs, and mates or other pieces of track work in which rails intersect; second, to provide for expeditiously and cheaply making molds and patterns therefor by means of which alumino-thermic molten metal can be applied to rail intersections of dilferent angles in such a way as to completely surround or embrace the foot, web and underface of the head and guard of both the through rail and the arms, even where the head of a rail and guard of another rail abut; and third, to provide a rail crossing structure in which the abutting rail portions are alumino-thermic welded together, and in which the corners and underlying portions of the welded intersection joint are strengthened by welded metal bottom and corner reenforcements.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description at the end of'which the invention will be claimed.

To these and other ends hereinafter set forth or appearing the invention, generally stated, comprises trimming and notching the web and foot of the confronting portions of the through rail and of the arm rails, securing said parts in any desired angular relation with the ends of the guard, flange way, and head portions in contact and with the other portions in intersecting and spaced relation, enclosing the structure so provided in four mold sections contacting with each other at their bases and externally conforming to the angles included by the intersections of the rails and internally having mold cavities conforming'respectively to the contour of the rail surfaces which they confront, and coping and preheating and pouring said sections with molten aluminothermi-c metal, thereby welding the parts of the structure and providing corner welded reenforcements.

The invention also comprises making the cavities of four corner molds from patterns consisting of the angularly intersecting face portions of longitudinal segments of rails, of which one presents a guard and the other a head, said patterns also consisting of a metal collar having a claw foot projecting under the rail segments and a head conforming to the surface of and terminating at the top of the rail segments and produced from the rail segments in substantially the manner described, assembling said four molds with their feet in contact at the four corners of the intersection of a notched and spaced through rail and its arm, and running molten alumino-thermic weld metal into the cavities of said molds.

The invention comprises the improvements to be presently described and finally claimed. In the ,following description reference will be made to 6 the accompanying drawings forming part hereof and in which is shown a railway crossing, or more accurately a part of a railwaycrossing, merely for the sake of illustration and without the intention of confining the invention to that 10 particular type of intersecting rail structure.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side view of one of the arms of the structure.

Figure 2 is a similar view of the through rail. 15

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing one way of making the collar which afterwards becomes a part of a mold pattern.

Figures 4, 4a, 4b, and 4c are perspective views illustrating four molds intended for application to an intersecting rail structure and indicating the compromise where a guard of a rail abuts the head of another rail.

Figures 5 and 6 are perspective views illustrating the use of segments of a rail split longitudinally of its web and a collar, shown at theright, as parts of a pattern for the molds.

Figure 7 is a perspective view illustrating the assembly of the through rail and its arms and of the molds shown in Figure 4 arranged for pouring molten alumino-thermic metal.

,Figure 8 is a perspective view taken from the top and illustrating the assembly of the through rail and its arms.

Figure 9 is a top or plan view showing in section the webs of the assembled rails.

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the assembled intersecting rails ready for alumino-thermic welding.

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the inter secting rails after the removal of the corner molds, and

Figure 12 is a perspective view of the welded track structure showing corner 'reenforcements.

There are four molds A, B, C and D (Figure 4) one for each angle included by the intersecting rails (Figure 7). The intersecting rails and the molds are secured in place by means of suitable fastenings or holddowns i and 2. The pattern for each mold consists of two half rails 3 and d (Figures 5 and 6) split centrally of the web and mitered at the ends and arranged at an angle corresponding to an angle included at rail intersections. The pattern also consists of a metal collar 5 having a claw foot 6 taking onto the rail section foot or base and a head 1, which may be called a compromise head terminating below the tops of the rail sections 3 and 4 and abutting on the side faces of the guard and head of the rail sections 3 and 4. The rail sections 3 and 4 may be held at the correct angle corresponding to the angle of the intersection of the crossing structure by means of an angle plate 8 secured to the back thereof as by fastenings 9.

The description may be interrupted at this point in order to describe the production of the collar 5. Half rail sections 3 and 4 (Figure 3) are assembled in a corner box or trough structure l0 and there is molded in wax, or like material, a collar 5 The rail sections and collar 5 are embedded as a pattern in a sand or other mold, which is poured with, for example, aluminum which melts out the wax collar and assumes the form of the aluminum collar shown in Figure 6.

Referring again to Figures 5 and 6 the angle of the rail sections 3 and 4 can be considerably varied and yet used with the same collar 5. One way to explain this is to say that the collar 5 has a claw-foot which receives and underlaps the feet or bases of both of the rail sections 3 and 4, and the collar also has a compromise head I terminating flush with the tops of the heads of the rail sections 3 and 4 and arranged below the heads in contact with the under-face of the guard and of the head. The connected rail sections 3 and 4 and the metal collar 5 are assembled in a trough structure similar to that shown in Figure 3 and packed with sand producing the molds shown in Figure 4. Upon inspection of that figure it is apparent that the mold cavities conform to the junction of heads or guards or like parts of rails and also to the junction of heads and guards and it is for that reason that the head 1 of the collar has been designated a compromise head. The through rail l8 and arms 2| are assembled and bolted down or otherwise secured in place as indicated in Figs. 8 to 10, from which it is apparent that there is provided space I l for the reception of the molten aluminothermic metal below the tops of the rails. cope l2 (Fig. 7) is then mounted in place and proper sprue holes [3 are provided. Prior to the construction of the cope l2 paper may be placed over the cavities in the four molds A, B, C and D to exclude sand used in the preparation of the cope. The abutting portion of the rail sections and the interior of the molds are preheated by means of a blow torch or in any convenient way through suitable openings formed in the lower portions of the molds. The paper is burned out and the product of combustion of the blow torch escapes through the sprue holes. From the cruel- The ble I4 molten alumino-thermic metal is poured into the cope and into the molds. The molds A, B, C and D are then removed and there is left an intersecting rail structure shown in Figure 11. In that figure l5 are corner reenforcements of weld metal which extend under the foot of the rails and which add to the strength and rigidity of the welded joint formed between the abutting portions of the rails. The projections l6 and I! are formed by the sprue holes l3 and by the bottom holes through which the heat from the blow torch or the like is applied. The projections it are removed and a flange way is ground in the through rail producing the finished structure shown in Figure 12.

It may be said, referring to Figure 2, that the through rails l8 have notches IS in the head and foot and an open slot 20 in the web communicating with the notch in the foot. The abutting rails or arms 2| have the end of the foot pointed at 22 and the tread 23 terminates short of the end of the foot and of the web.

From the foregoing description those skilled in the art will be able to practice the invention in the production of intersecting rail structures other than crossings and the invention is not limited in respect to matters of mere form or details of procedure or otherwise than as the prior art and the appended claims may require.

We claim:

1. A method of making alumino-thermic welded intersecting rail structures, which consists in making corner molds from patterns comprising the angularly intersecting face portions of longitudinal segments of rails and of a metal collar having a claw foot and a compromise head each adapted to lap with parts of the rail segments, and said collar also produced from longitudinal rail segments and wax, assembling the corner molds at the intersections of the spaced rails, and pouring molten alumino-thermic weld metal into the molds.

2. The method of making alumino-thermic welded intersecting rail structures which consists in, casting a metal collar of a form which will fit intersecting rail joints wherein the angle of intersection varies within a wide range of degrees, placing the collar on a pattern rail joint of which the angle corresponds to the angle of intersection of the rail structure and forming a mold about the collar and between the adjacent sides of the rail pattern, assembling a sufficient number of said molds about the rail joints of the rail structure, and pouring the molds with alumino-thermic metal.

JOHN L. MARTIN.

MILLARD E. ALLEN. 

